Nuclear Energy Agency Online Bulletin

Covers new material for October 2004:

The new NEA Strategic Plan

The Strategic Plan of the Nuclear Energy Agency: 2005-2009 was recently adopted by the OECD/NEA Steering Committee for Nuclear Energy and is now available online. Both the current Strategic Plan and the newly approved Plan for 2005-2009 offer a clear roadmap for achieving the goals that have been set by the member countries, in particular in the areas of nuclear safety, radioactive waste management, radiological protection, nuclear science and technology development, economics and legal affairs.

Nuclear safety

The NEA is organising a workshop to discuss licensees' nuclear safety management and the effectiveness of inspections; it will be held on 26-28 January 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. The main aim of the workshop is to examine how inspection findings can be used to improve or re-establish a licensee's safety management systems and how regulatory effectiveness can be improved or enhanced.

Radiological protection

The NEA Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters met on 25 October 2004 in Paris, France to finalise the preparation of the documentation for the next generation of international nuclear emergency exercises, INEX 3. INEX 3 is a table-top exercise focusing on the decision-making processes employed after serious radiation contamination has taken place. A series of support documents have been developed by the working party describing the exercise in general terms. These provide guidance for exercise organisers and discussion moderators as well as giving detailed descriptions of the accident scenarios. The working party has also compiled an evaluation questionnaire to facilitate comparison of INEX 3 with previous exercises in the series. INEX 3 will be held during the second half of 2005; the NEA will organise a workshop to summarise and analyse findings from the exercise in early 2006. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/rp/inex/.

Nuclear science

The NEA Expert Group on Reactor-based Plutonium Disposition met on 16 September 2004 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. The current status and trends of reactor physics, fuel performance, and fuel cycle issues related to the disposition of weapons-grade plutonium as mixed-oxide fuel (MOX) were discussed. The results from benchmark exercises required for the validation of the computer models used for the design and operation of such systems were also presented. This also contributes to create a favourable licensing environment. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/science/egrbpd/.

The first meeting of the Working Party on Scientific Issues of Reactor Systems (WPRS) was held on 17 September 2004 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA. The WPRS will build on the work of the Working Party on the Physics of Plutonium Fuels and Innovative Fuel Cycles (WPPR), covering issues of reactor physics, the fuel cycle, fuel behaviour, thermal hydraulics and dynamics, and the safety of present and future nuclear power systems. Technical topics addressed during this meeting included: high-temperature reactor benchmarks, a mixed-oxide fuel pressurised water reactor rod ejection benchmark, and an isotopic depletion benchmark devoted to fuel cycle issues. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/science/wprs/.

The first workshop on the NEA/NRC benchmark based on the NUPEC boiling water reactor, full-size, fine-mesh, bundle tests was held on 4 October 2004 in Nara, Japan. It was hosted by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organisation (JNES), which has released a comprehensive and valuable set of experimental data to the international community. The aim is to develop refined models of the two-phase flow around boiling water reactor fuel bundles, which are important for both reactor operation and safety. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/science/wprs/egrsltb/BFBT/.

The first meeting of the Technical Review Group of the International Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhE) project was held on 29 October 2004 in Paris, France. The group's aim is to develop and maintain an international database of high-priority reactor physics benchmark specifications derived from the experiments performed at various nuclear facilities around the world. These benchmark specifications are relevant for (or include data from) existing and advanced reactors. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/dbcps/IRPhE-latest.htm.

Data Bank

Nuclear data services

The annual meeting of the Nuclear Reaction Data Centres (NRDC) network, a world-wide co-operative network of nuclear data centres, was held on 4-7 October 2004 at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA. Representatives from the different centres, including the NEA Data Bank, discussed co-operation on the compilation and dissemination of bibliographic and experimental nuclear data. One of the main outcomes of the meeting was an agreement to extend the bibliographical index of neutron data (CINDA) to also cover charged-particle-induced reaction references. The change will be effective from May 2005. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/dbdata/projects/nrdc.html.

Participants in the Joint Evaluated Fission and Fusion File (JEFF) and the European Fusion File (EFF) projects will hold a joint meeting on 24-26 November 2004 in Paris, France. More information is available at www.oecd-nea.org/dbdata/jeff/.